How to become a veterinary technician or assistant
Official title: Veterinary technician/assistant
Also called: Veterinary assistant, Veterinary nurse, Veterinary technician, Veterinary vaccinator, Veterinary nurse, Veterinary vaccinator
Veterinary technician/assistant carries out advisory, diagnostic, preventive and curative veterinary tasks, more limited in scope and complexity than those carried out by, and with the guidance of veterinarians. He/she cares for animals under treatment and in temporary residence at veterinary facilities, performs routine procedures and assists veterinarians to perform procedures and operations.
Main tasks
- Advising communities and individuals on the treatment of animals and their diseases and injuries
- Conducting examinations of animals to make diagnoses or refer more difficult cases to veterinarians when needed
- Treating ill or injured animals, especially for common diseases and disorders
- Cleaning and sterilising examination tables and instruments and preparing materials used in the examination and treatment of animals
- Carrying out technical tasks connected with artificial insemination of animals
- Getting animals ready for examination or treatment and restraining or holding them during treatment
- Assisting veterinarians to administer anaesthetics and oxygen during treatment
- Placing animals in cages for recovery from operations and monitoring their condition
Ways in
- Polytechnic or ITE: Polytechnic diploma. Related diplomas: Diploma in Veterinary Technology (Temasek Polytechnic). Peernovo matched these from course names; polytechnics do not publish which jobs each course leads to.
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: $42,372 a year. The middle half earn $34,860 to $58,212 a year.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How do I become a veterinary technician or assistant?
Ways in include: Polytechnic diploma.
How much does a veterinary technician or assistant earn in Singapore?
Median full-time pay is $42,372 a year (Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg)). The middle half earn $34,860 to $58,212.
Will AI change the work of a veterinary technician or assistant?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg): Resident Occupational Wages (Occupational Wage Survey) (June 2024 (data.gov.sg update 2026-04-01)), Singapore Open Data Licence v1.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026